The Axiom of Eros [MXM]

That Aiden did not like Ethan was certainly no secret. Everyone in philosophy class knew that. And that it was a reciprocated feeling, lo and behold, that was even more common knowledge. 

Perhaps the only one who didn't know it was the very professor who had paired them up that morning for the upcoming exam. Like, what were the odds?

The professor was obsessed with reasoning and argumentation, so the exam was supposed to be a discussion of ideas about what they had studied in class-and then extra questions. 

When he heard the doorbell ring, the boy jumped. He had had to give up his turn at the studio that afternoon, which made him nervous: doing tattoos was a passion and a soother for his frayed nerves. 

"Aiden, see who it is!"

He didn't need his mother to tell him that, but still he used that reason to get up from the first step of the stairs. He dragged his feet, ready for a fiery afternoon. He opened the door, and Ethan stood there with his bag slung over his shoulder and books in his hand, as if he had so many of them that they wouldn't fit inside. His wavy black hair was loose and his tanned skin contrasted with his sky-blue eyes. Too bad ruining that picture was his usual pout and ‘what's that smell?’ expression. And for the record, Aiden's house always smelled like daffodils.

"I thought you were lost."

"You should learn to tell time, I'm even early."

Aiden made to close the door in his face, crushing Ethan who had already taken a step forward. "Ouch-! You moron! You know I have brittle bones!"

"You have them like everyone else, don't bullshit. Come on hurry up, I have to go out later." He let him pass, regretting that he had not simply stood him up. Unfortunately, Aiden cared about taking a good exam, and to do that his partner had to be prepared as well. "Take off your shoes." Ethan did not protest and did as ordered, placing them in a corner by the door. 

"Your house is huge. Are your parents lawyers?"

"My mom, my dad is an engineer. But why do you ask? You already know," Aiden replied as he began to climb the stairs.

"Actually no, I don't know anything about you. Not that I care, anyway. It was an informational question."

"Clearly." Arriving upstairs, his room was the first door on the right. He opened it wide, letting in a pleasant draught. "You can sit at the desk."

Aiden nodded to the mahogany table where there were some books. He had already arranged everything neatly. "No, not that place," he stopped him when he saw him approach the one next to his own. "The one in front."

Ethan rolled his eyes. "But what difference does it make?" 

"What do you care? Sit there!" 

"Bollocks you are, even fixated." Ethan put the books on the table and the bag on the chair, then picked up the latter and moved it to the side of Aiden's, who nearly had a heart attack. On Ethan’s face an ill-restrained smirk.

"You’ll crawl the floor!"

"There are mats! Look, get a grip. If I wanted to be bossed around I'd stay home, you understand? And, I still have time to catch the bus," he threatened him. "Then I want to see which of the other geniuses you’re gonna take the exam with." Ethan sat down heavily and glared at him. 

Aiden was pretty sure his eye was about to twitch, as it always did when he got nervous. "I swear to god, if I don't get the top score..."

"What?" asked Ethan as the other sat down. "Are you going to leave university? Are you going to hit me?"

"Now I'm going to shut that mouth of yours."

Ethan rolled his eyes. Fortunately, he knew when to stop. Almost. "What do you want to start with? On the university group I found a rough list of topics. Apparently he ranges a lot, he can also ask a question about something modern that you have to relate back to what you studied in class."

Aiden shrugged. "I don't find anything difficult about it. We didn’t do much else."

Ethan slipped a sheet of paper from inside a book. "Artificial intelligence. What do you think?"

"Pros. I don't want it to replace humans, but I think it can be a valuable aid. You?"

"Cons. I've seen too many people using it inappropriately, so many companies stealing other people's work and using it to improve AI."

"In this case it would be enough to put some stakes. There should be more laws and controls. In that case, what would you think?"

Ethan curled his lips. "I don't think that would go down with me anyway."

Aiden raised his hands. He respected his opinion; he had valid reasons. "And we could connect it to..."

Ethan brightened. "Aristotle's ethics! Kant's, too, actually. We can make a comparison between what the machine "feels" and what the man feels. What do you think? Then we have a normal conversation, see what we can come up with."

The Ethics suggestion was great, they would make a good impression. "I agree, he just needs to see us talk about it and get that we understood the concepts. What else is there?"

Ethan scrutinized the paper. "Gender equality, labor, fake news… technology and the environment." He took out his own notebook and began to write. First, he wrote down what they had just said to each other. "In the meantime, I'll jot down the ideas."

📖

The timer rang two hours later. They hadn't even had a snack, lost in comparing and contrasting, Aiden even felt his throat dry. What amazed him most was the fact that, after the initial bickering, they had both focused on finding a connection for each topic. Maybe the professor hadn't done such a stupid thing putting them together.

"Let me drink, my throat is as dry as the desert." Aiden grabbed the bottle and took a long sip. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. I ate before I came here."

"Yeah, two hours ago. It's almost six p.m." Aiden stood up. "I'll take… what? Some cookies, chips-what do you want?"

Ethan shrugged. "I'm not crazy about junk food, actually."

"Ah, boring to the end. Almonds?"

After glaring at him, the boy nodded and Aiden moved calmly toward the ground floor. They still had half an hour, then Bennett would go home. 

"Look who's alive," smiled his mother. She was preparing her usual draining drink. Her blond hair was up in a bun, and a mint-green house suit fit her strangely. "Do you have much longer?"

"No, almost done. Do we have almonds? Or dried fruits in general." Aiden started opening doors. He noticed her mother's surprised look. "He wants them," he clarified, and she nodded. 

"In the cupboard above the spices, honey. There's a jar where there are almonds, cashews, red fruits, nuts... You can take it right upstairs."

"Thank you." He grabbed the jar and two juices. "I'll take these, too."

"Go ahead. How is he doing? Is he good? Are you getting along?" Deborah Blake knew how difficult it was for her son to study with someone; he had been that way since childhood. 

Aiden shrugged his shoulders. "He's good, but he has a temper that I don't like. I don't think we'll see each other out of class."

"Oh." His mom tried hard to smile, but it was clear she was sorry. "It doesn't matter. The important thing is to get along for the exam, right? You can find friends with time."

"I do have a friend," he reminded her.

"Oh, yes yes yes," his mother said, bringing her hands forward. "I meant someone ... hmm ... someone new, that is. Jace has been there since kindergarten." And he was also a colleague at the tattoo studio. He was afraid of needles, though, so he worked at the front desk.

Aiden lifted the jar of dried fruit. "I'm going back upstairs," he told her softly. He didn't want to scold her just because she had been worried; he would have too if his son was always alone. At the same time, Aiden didn't want to talk about it because he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. "He's leaving soon, maybe say hello to him?"

"I'd really like that," Deborah smiled. "Good study," he heard her say when he was already coming up the stairs. 

In the room, Ethan was looking at the books in the wall bookcase. He had his hands in his pockets and his head bent to read the titles on the spines.

"Metaphysics. What does that have to do with philosophy?"

"My interests vary, genius." Aiden put the snack on the table. "I found this."

"And do you change them every week?" asked Ethan, ignoring his speech. "I see mythology, mechatronics, astronomy..."

"The more I know the better I feel, now come and eat so we can finish this."

Ethan, on the other hand, stood there, looking and reading every single title. He even bent his head back to see the ones higher up. "Where do you find time to read? Some of these are massive."

Tired of that waste of time, Aiden did not answer him. Instead, he closed the books and notebooks. 

"What are you doing? We haven't finished yet."

"We have, since you keep minding your own business instead of moving on. It's not a problem, we'll continue another time."

Ethan rolled his eyes, a gesture that made Aiden annoyed. "I just stood and watched for a moment." He reached and grabbed the jar, taking a handful of nuts and tossing them into his mouth. He then gathered his own material. "I have water in my bag, I'll drink that. Thanks anyway."

Aiden accompanied him downstairs, where his mother was still at the kitchen counter. Not even two minutes must have passed, because she looked at them confused. 

"Have you already eaten?"

"No, Bennett is leaving."

"Oh." Deborah wiped her hands and walked over to them. She smiled politely at Ethan, who smiled back. "I'm Deborah, Aiden's mother. We've never met, have we? It's a pleasure."

"My pleasure, ma'am, thank you for your hospitality." He looked at Aiden with a serene expression, a blatant mask in front of the woman. "When can I be back?"

"Monday. But if need be, I can come to you."

"No," Ethan replied a little too quickly and decisively. "Monday at today's time, that's fine. Thanks again." He smiled again at his mother and left. 

"He seemed...upset," Deborah observed. "Don't you think so?"

"Mom, what do I know. We always talk to each other like this."

Monday's appointment came earlier than expected, so much so that Aiden had taken his time: there were no classes that morning, so he had gone to work a shift at the studio and stayed an extra hour, getting home by the skin of his teeth. A few moments later, when he had begun to take off his shoes, the doorbell had rung.

Opening the door, Ethan looked at him mockingly.

"You ran, huh? I saw you. Had you forgotten?"

"I never forget anything. Come in." The exam was in three weeks, but Aiden was sure it would only take another two, maximum three meetings to be more than ready. 

This time they managed to work out three arguments, one more than the previous one. He didn't want to attract bad luck, but he could already hear the professor giving them top marks.

At six p.m., Aiden was beginning to feel tired. 

"Well?"

Aiden looked up at the ceiling to stretch his neck. "What?" 

"Why were you almost late?"

From the ceiling, his gaze shifted to the boy next to him. He was wearing a sage-colored pullover. Aiden might as well have told him to mind his own business, but he realized it was unnecessary. "I was working."

"Ah. Where?" asked Ethan as he looked at him. His eyes moved all over his figure, perhaps searching for an answer on his own. 

"The tattoo studio, the one next to the furniture store. Do you know?"

"No."

"Strange," he replied wryly. "Anyway, it's there. It's called 'Alexander Studio,' which is the name of the owner."

"And you work there every day?"

"But am I wrong, or are you curious as hell today?" Aiden moved to the side. "What's with all these questions?"

Ethan frowned. "I was just asking to talk about something other than the exam. I'm sorry." 

"I didn't mean-"

"It's time for me to go. My father is waiting for me." Ethan got up and gathered his things. This time he managed to put them all in the bag. "No need to accompany me, I remember the way. Bye." 

He left before Aiden could say "wait". He crinkled his eyes and, when he heard the front door close, sighed. 

Like, he didn't want to be the bad guy. Wasn't that their game? Throwing barbs at each other until one of them got tired? 

He moved the wheeled chair to the window, from which he saw Ethan walking briskly in the direction of the station. His eyebrows were still down and he had a frustrated expression. 

What do I care, he asked himself. The important thing is to have a good result in the exam.